I was delighted to hear that volunteers participating in our research project have personally written an article in your publication about their experience.

Mr and Mrs Dent are two of the 1,000 kind people who have already participated in the Exeter 10,000 project.

This project aims to help researchers understand more about common diseases such as diabetes and heart disease so that we can improve diagnosis and treatment in the future.

The project allows anyone over the age of 18, who lives within a one-hour drive of Exeter, to make a contribution to medical research by giving half an hour of their time and a few teaspoons of blood.

Medical research has been held back in the UK because of a shortage of people willing to participate in these studies.

We are, therefore, incredibly grateful to Mr and Mrs Dent and all the other volunteers who have joined us.

As mentioned by Mr and Mrs Dent, we are still looking for another 9,000 volunteers to participate in Exeter 10,000 and join our research register. Details can be found at www.exeter10000.org, or by calling (01392) 406769.

Dr Gillian Baker,

Peninsula NIHR Clinical Research Facility.